The present invention relates to a billing management system for game machines, billing management servers and game machines incorporated in the system, a billing management program that allows a server to operate as a billing server, and a billing management method that uses this system.
Arcade video game machines allow the user to start a game upon an input of credits incurred by insertion of or payment by coins, paper money, prepayment cards, electronic money, medals, and the like. After an input of credits necessary for playing one game, the game control program is initiated in response to a start signal input from the player. The game machines accumulate records of credits that are consumed per each play.
In one mode of business, arcade game machines are entirely or partly (for example, game software) lent to game machine administrators on the basis of a lease contract. The lease provider charges the game machine administrators for the use of the game machines, and the game machine administrators pay the bills to the lease provider from part of their profits.
The billing is made on a pay-per-use basis, usually on the basis of the count value of a play counter equipped in the game machines. The lease provider checks the play counters of the leased game machines regularly to obtain information necessary for the billing.
When there are many lease users, however, this billing process requires a large amount of work to obtain the billing information, and it is difficult to provide swift management service for all of the lease users. Therefore, a collective billing management system has been proposed, in which leased game machines are connected to a communication network and the management including billing is controlled through the network.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-150420 describes a system, in which a machine management center communicates with leased (rental) machines supplied by a lease (rental service) provider over a communication network via a base station that transmits and receives wireless signals to and from the leased machines. The leased machines are inoperative when delivered to the users, and after a request for operable condition is received from the leased machines, the machine management center transmits an electronic key to the leased machines to enable the machines to be operated. Also disclosed in this conventional technique is that the electronic key includes information on how many times the leased machines can be used, and that the number of times the leased machines are turned on is counted from the time when the machines were rendered operative, and the machines are disabled after they have been turned on the preset allowable number of times.
With this conventional technique, the pay-per-use billing could be made on the basis of the information on the allowable number of uses contained in the electronic key. However, since the number of times the machine has been used is made available only after the machine has been used the preset allowable number of times and rendered inoperative, it is not possible to perform the pay-per-use billing process regularly or irregularly during continuous use of the machine. Arcade game machines are usually installed in 24-hour operating shops or amusement places and always operative. If the allowable number of uses in the electronic key is set high so as to ensure prolonged continuous use of the machines, pay-per-use billing for a short period of, for example, one day would be impossible. On the other hand, if the allowable number of uses is set low to enable the short cycle billing and settlement, the machines would be disabled frequently because of the billing, which would be incompatible with the 24-hour operating business mode and would affect the business profit adversely.
Regular pay-per-use billing while ensuring continuous use of the game machines would be possible without a limit on the usable number and with the center communicating with the leased machines over a communication network to access the use history data of the machines and obtain billing information.
However, since arcade game machines are usually operative both on-line and stand-alone, if the machines are disconnected from the center willfully or due to a network failure, the use history data of the machines accessed by the center will be incomplete, and accurate pay-per-use billing will be impossible.
Also, without the limit on the usable number, the center cannot monitor proper use of the leased machines and restrict abusive use of the machines such as a willful act of using the machines in a stand-alone state, which is a breach of the lease contract.
Another problem with the above-described conventional technique is that the allowable number of uses is contained in the electronic key sent to the leased machines and this number of times of use is set in the machine when it is turned on for the first time, it being not changeable afterwards irrespective of possible changes in the situation. Therefore it is not possible to control the limit on the number of times the machines can be used flexibly in accordance with the situation in which the machines are used, or with the billing history or various circumstances on the side of the machine administrators.